Daily Digest 12/5 - How Detroit Went Broke, A Gut Reaction

Economy

The numbers, most from records deeply buried in the public library, lay waste to misconceptions about the roots of Detroit’s economic crisis. For critics who want to blame Mayor Coleman Young for starting this mess, think again. The mayor’s sometimes fiery rhetoric may have contributed to metro Detroit’s racial divide, but he was an astute money manager who recognized, early on, the challenges the city faced and began slashing staff and spending to address them.

“I think the likelihood of a major correction as the market goes up increases, and I just want to warn your listeners: it’s not a good time to buy stocks. Maybe you’ll make another 5 or 10 percent, but the big move – the market from the lows in March 2009 is up almost three times – it’s not a good time to buy.”

The judge ruled that the city filed its petition properly, arguing that labor’s claim that the city negotiated in bad faith didn’t hold up because of the sheer number of creditors (more than 100,000). He said the negotiations were impractical.

“So investors won’t see late green bond payments or defaults,” said Chris McKnett, head of ESG investing at Boston-based State Street Bank Global Advisors. “This is important since the green space is still very experimental.” Green bonds are also usually safer and less volatile than green stocks. The reason: 89% of green bonds are investment grade, according to Climate Bonds Initiative.

Nearly one in five American children is considered obese. While they may not face major health issues now, that could easily change in adulthood. Obese children are more likely to become obese adults with a higher probability of certain illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. And though it may appear that non-obese but still overweight children do not face as bleak a future, children with higher BMI are more likely as adults to have an increased risk of heart disease, the number one cause of death in America.

In his most recent book, Antifragile, Taleb offers some simple heuristics to help businesses and individuals thrive in a life swirling with volatility. Before he does that, though, Taleb makes the case that people/systems/organizations/things/ideas can be described in one of three ways: fragile, resilient, or antifragile.

According to The New York Times' Thomas Fuller, the protestors want to throw the powerful Shinawatras family out of Thailand. They are led by a former prime minister who was removed from office by a military coup in 2006. The protests quieted a day ago in honor of the king's birthday.

According to the report, in 2010, the LDR stopped using an automated program called “GenTax”, which pinged companies that weren’t filing severance tax returns, and other avenues for keeping track of such filings are too limited to be accurate.

Iran says it expects a major boost in oil exports now that it has a nuclear deal in hand. In a sign the market is able to do without, however, the U.S. government said Iran's return is unlikely because of the ample supply of oil elsewhere.

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Kazzem Vaziri-Hamaneh said last week relief from economic sanctions could stimulate an oil export economy hamstrung by Western sanctions.

"An article in Current Biology details the finding that minute particles of plastic waste are affecting marine worms, potentially having grave impacts on marine biodiversity and leading to the accumulation of toxins in marine animals. 'The team found that the tiny bits of plastic, which measure 1mm or smaller, transferred pollutants and additive chemicals — such as flame-retardants — into the guts of lugworms. This process results in the chemical reaching the creatures' tissue, causing a range of biological effects such as thermal stress and the inability to consume as much sediment.' Unfortunately, policymakers have routinely treated such wastes as benign. The BBC provides more approachable coverage of the findings."

Gold & Silver

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